PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Harbor-Works Development Authority may know by the end of the week if Rayonier Inc. will contribute to its funding.
The day after the Harbor-Works public development authority board approved a budget through 2010 that includes requesting $500,000 each from the city of Port Angeles and the Port of Port Angeles, Executive Director Jeff Lincoln told the City Council that he has requested funds from the company that owns harbor-front land where it once operated a pulp mill.
He said after his presentation Tuesday night that he expects to receive an answer from Rayonier before the weekend. He declined to say how much he has requested.
Lincoln said the money would be used for due diligence related to acquiring Rayonier’s 75-acre property, site of its former pulp mill, on the Port Angeles waterfront.
Loan request
City Manager Kent Myers said that Harbor-Works’ $500,000 loan request will be on the council’s July 21 agenda, when it meets at 6 p.m. in council chambers at 321 E. Fifth St.
A vote on the proposed loan is expected then.
Lincoln said he will bring the budget proposal to the port commission Monday but doesn’t expect the commissioners to make a decision then.
The city and port each provided a $150,000 loan to Harbor-Works last year from their economic development funds. About $104,000 is left, Lincoln told the council.
Myers said any additional loans from the city would come from the same fund. About $6 million is left in the fund, he said.
Pay back through development
Lincoln said the goal is to pay back all of the loans through development of the property, which has been a state Department of Ecology cleanup site since 2000.
The Rayonier site is contaminated with pockets of PCBs, dioxin, arsenic and other toxins left by the pulp mill, which operated there for 68 years before closing in 1997. In 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency called the site” moderately contaminated,” perhaps 2 or 3 on a scale of 10.
Lincoln said Harbor-Works also has applied for a $200,000 integrated planning grant from Ecology for the due diligence, which involves finding out how much liability the public development authority would take on if it acquires the property.
Lincoln said those costs will likely be more than double that amount, which is why he is seeking funding from Rayonier.
“That is going to be very difficult,” he told the council, referring to the request to Rayonier. “But we continue to talk about it.”
Referring to the budget, Lincoln said most people who have led similar projects would say that its a “very small amount” for the task.
After the presentation, he said the budget does not include redevelopment plans.
This year, the budget is divided into four major categories: administration, legal, reserves and projects.
The total budget is estimated at $736,200 and includes $277,200 for administration, $174,000 for legal, $100,000 for reserves and $185,000 for projects.
The 2010 budget totals $825,900 with $371,000 reserved for projects, $354,900 for administration and the $100,000 kept in reserves.
Legal expenses are not broken out separately in that budget but are included within various subcategories.
Redevelopment by 2015
Lincoln is aiming for cleanup and redevelopment to be completed by 2015.
“I can’t tell you we will get it done to our satisfaction in six years,” he told the council. “But if we don’t set an aggressive schedule, it could take a lot longer.”
The city created Harbor-Works in May 2008 to assist in the cleanup of the Rayonier property and direct its redevelopment. At the same date, the port commission also voted to assist the city financially with Harbor-Works.
The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe is a partner in the cleanup project with Ecology and Rayonier.
The property is the former site of a Klallam village, Y’Innis. Human remains and tribal artifacts remain buried under portions of the property.
In response to a question from the council, Lincoln said the tribe and Harbor-Works will together but that an agreement between the two entities probably won’t be needed unless it’s a business agreement related to future use of the Rayonier property.
“We want the same things they want,” he said, referring to cleanup and protection of cultural resources.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
